Pulse height analyzer system



J. H. REM/Es v 2,804,606

PULSE HEIGHT ANALYZER SYSTEM 3 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 27, 1957 Filed May14. 1956 Aug. 27, 1957 J. H. REAVE 3,804,606

' PULSE HEIGHT ANALYZER SYSTEM Filed may 14, 195e s sheets-snee: 2

Y @EAD/Ne 67URED PULSES IIIH IIIII IIH une.. aneosnuol ...accennouaslnoe-ncnns AU@ Z7 1957 J. H. REAVES PULSE HEIGHT ANALYZEE SYSTEMUnited States Patent PULSE HEIGHT ANALYZER SYSTEM John H. Reaves,McLean, Va., assigner to the Unite-:l States of America as representedby the Secretary of Commerce Application May 14, 1956, Serial No.584,867

Mi Claims. (Cl. 349-213) This invention relates to a multichannelpulse-height analyzer and is particularly adapted to analyze voltagepulses such as are encountered in investigations involving the use ofhigh-velocity particle accelerators.

In accordance with known practices, such pulses are obtained during theshort youtput duration of a particle accelerator such as the betatron orsynchrotron, and it has therefore been found efficacious to memorizethese voltage pulses and then analyze them during the dead time periodbetween the output periods of the accelerator. This invention, however,is not necessarily limited for use in connection with the outputsobtained from highenergy particle accelerators, since the constructionof the analyzer involves principles which singularly adapt it for use inanalyzing pulses obtained from any desired source.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a pulse-heightanalyzer which classies one or more pulses into discrete amplitudecomponents and which distributes such components into respectivesegregated amplitude channels.

Another object of this invention is to provide a multichannel pulseheight analyzer yof the type described in which the component amplitudesof the analyzed pulses are totalized and represented as distributedcounts according to a pattern corresponding to the binary system ofnotation.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a multichannelpulse-height analyzer in which the amplitude components may bemanifested as a display in visual form.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a multichannelpulse-height analyzer in which the pulses to be analyzed are stored in arst storage device and logical circuit elements of conventional varietyare employed to produce a summarized display of the respectiveamplitudes.

Other uses and advantages of the invention will become apparent uponreference to the specitication and drawings in which:

Fig. l is a schematic diagram showing the over-all organization of theapparatus of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a representation of a plurality of voltage amplitude pulses asthey appear when registered `on the face of a storage tube employed withthis invention;

Fig. 3 is a representation of a typical amplitude-count distributionpattern as itwould appear on the face of a display storage tube employedwith the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a circuit diagram of a typical electronic counter employed invarious mechanisms of this invention;

Figs. 5A and 5B are a circuit diagram and symbolic representation of atypical and-gate; and

Figs. 6A and 6B are a circuit diagram and symbolic representation of anor-gate;

In nuclear research utilizing betatron and synchrotron accelerators, forexample, pulses of very short duration are `obtained which, as explainedin the copending appli- Zbdb Patented Aug.` 27, 1957- ICC cation ofJames A. Cunningham, Serial No. 446,985, led on July 30, 1954, nowPatent No. 2,769,164, may be stored as amplitude pulses on the face of asuitable storage type of cathode-ray tube. Fig. 2 is a typicalrepresentation of a plurality of such pulses as they appear stored onthe face of a storage tube. Fig. 2 shows eleven typical such amplitudepulses having different relative amplitudes as they would appear on theface of a pulse-height analyzer storage tube symbolically depicted inFig. 1. For simplicity, the circuits provided for Writing the amplitudepulses to be analyzed are not shown. These pulses can be assumed to havebeen stored on the face of the tube in a conventional manner with alinear sweep supplying the horizontal deection of the beam, and thepulses to be analyzed providing the vertical deilection. The readingcircuitry associated with the storage tube 106 comprises atelevision-raster type of scan, and a conventional type of capacitycoupling pick-up 166g. The scan lines representing the movement of thesweep beam of the cathode-ray storage tube is also indicated in Fig. 2as a plurality of horizontal lines, each of which may be identied fordescriptive purposes by a number reading upwardly from the bottom of thepattern as indicated in the right-hand side of Fig. 2.

As the scanlines in Fig. 2 show, each horizontal sweep of the beam inthe storage tube 16) will intercept pulses having an amplitude at leastequal to the vertical position of the particular scan line as measuredfrom the bottom of the iigure. For example, the rst six scan lines willnecessarily intercept eleven charge discontinuities created by each ofthe eleven stored pulse manifestations.

The number of charge discontinuities detected by the beam during eachscan is tabulated in Table I below. As is apparent, scan lines numbered'7 through 8 in Fig. 2 will intercept ten charge discontinuitiesbecause, as is evidenced from Fig. 2, only ten of the stored pulses havean amplitude equal to or exceeding the vertical position of these scanlines. Similarly scan lines 9 and 10 will detect nine pulses, whilelines 11-14 will intercept 8 pulses, etc., as indicated by thetabulation in the table.

TABLE I No. Pulses Detected per Scan Scan Line Identification NumberTable I also indicates the binary coded representation of the number ofpulses detected during each scan.

A 27-place binary representation is employed in order to fullyillustrate the capacity of the device as contemplated.

That is, While Fig. 2 is an illustration ofthe apparatus used to analyzeeleven stored pulses, the present invention enables retention of countsup to 2 to the 27th or the beam` in tracing such scan lines vvill senseany pulseV having an amplitude Which equals or exceeds the verticalposition of such scan line. ln this manner the vertical positionoteach-jscan'line .relativeto the baseline-in Eig. 2 defines Ta,particulark-fdisciete Vvoltage jamplitude -.level of predeterminedmagnitude, and the beam inexecuting each suchtraceline,identiiiesdheportion of .each stored pulse having aicorresponding voltage .levelcomponent. showsa trypical'display produced by the apparatusof.this--invention=afs it wouldappe'ar on the memory tube Y105 forming partV of lthe circuit shown in Fig. 1.

flmlig.- 3 theabscissa `corresponds to the scan line identifictionnumber representing an amplitudefcompo'nent channel as discussed 'inconnection With'Fig. 2, vvhile the Y orcl'ilnate.V corresponds to .thebinaryrepresentation (to 27Yfidig`ital piaces'.) of the number Vofpulses'having a correspondingvoltage'level detectedfby the pulsevstorage tube beam iii-executing each scan. "That is,.'the number ofhargediscontinuitie's counted'by the'beam as it sweeps acrossstoredpulsesin .storage tube 100 v(Fig. 2) in a particular scan line.;.po's'itionis .plotted inl-iig. f3 lin binary notation .as an ordinatecorresponding to that particular scanlineplottetl along the absc'issa.In order Words, referingto'TablefIiwhich conveniently tabulates'thevarious number of pulses counted Vbyrthe beam 'for each scan lineexcursion, Ait will be apparent that scan lines or pulsehe'ightchannelsil-.t will be `indicated in Fig. 3 (reading`fromlthebottom upward) as a dash dash dot dash dot dot etc. `Similarlyscan'line30, `for example, will be indicated by adashdash dot dot dot,etc. The term dashdot is in accordance vwiththe conventionalnomenclature-and is intended.- to represent fa .pulse =no-.pu'lsecondition, `respectively. y The distributed count representationof Fig.3 is implementedbylthe apparatus according tothis invention as a visualAdisplay `onthe ltace ofthe digital memory tube'illSindi-cated in Fig/1.

i yThe ldisplay tube 105 operates in time-shared synchronism with thepulse storage 'tube 100 so that the counts detecteddurin'g any givenreading sweepby'the lbeam in vfthe, storage tube are'alwaysfadded inafproperchannel '.(scan line position) in the display tube. fIn'thismanner,` eachsCanLofthe beam in storage tube 100'pro- 'duces anuniberof'pulses corresponding to the number of -charge"discontinuities sensedin the tube at a level corresponding to the vertical position of thescan line,

Vandsuch-detectedpulses JareVthrough .the apparatus of thisinvention,written in conventional binary notation as -a`fpat-t`er 'of verticaldashes during a vertical svveep of the beiar'nlin'thefdisplay ytube'1"0'5, 'such'vertical `sweepbeing articulated with the horizontallscanning of the beam in 's'tora'ge'tube'lu i' Y Y -Moreoven inaccordance with the `apparatus of this invention, as ithe readingbeamuin storage tube'lil f is deected vertically tothe next scan linerposition defining aneW IvoltageamplitudeleyeL thejwritingbeam in'display tube -105 i's displaced horizontally toacorresponding -`scanlinejor amplitude component channel number, but in`alternatetinie'rsequence as-Willbemade clear. Y Y Toacomplish the-above results, the -amplitude Apulses stored instorage tube`100-arelscanned and-the resulting Theternporary storage sealer 102 is"afconvzentional I "Ebinar'yriscalerconsisting of five stages ofbistable elements V.forlstoringka maximum ,count .of V.'31. "The.output'from deo amplifier applied Qin yserial.fashion'to "the scaler102 and a parallel output is obtainediromeach of the live channels v`asrepresentedr by the -outputpfleads i 1Mo-102e inf/accordance'withapatterndeterminedby '.thenumberofgpulses'applied. Upon completionof each the general type described'onpages 208 to 212 of Elec- Y tronicsby Elmore and Sands .published by McGraw- Hill. The particular "ScalerV102 Vemploys ltive bi-'stable stages.' This Llimitsthe number ofppulsesthat canbe;

lanalyzed in any one burst to.25-.l,or .31. v It will be apparenttherefore that each time'thecathod beam completes.a-scan correspondingto la path deiined'by one of the horizontal scan lines shown inFig. 2, anumber of pulses corresponding Eto 'the .fpulses P stored onvthe storagetube 100 intercepted by the beam will have been manifested on leadV101:1 in Fig. 1 and Aapplied to the scalingcircuit 102 detailed inFig.l4.y The `scaling'circuit of Fig. 4 willthen `function incharacteristic Imanner to provide paralleloutputsignals-on the terminalsl1"02z-`1t)f2'd according toapatt'ern'determined"by thenumber'of pulsesapplied at terminal 1ltllarduing each horizontal H=scan. Accordingly,upon vcompletion of leach scaninthe storage tube 100,"the sealer '1:02'Will have, in yelect, memorized infbinary coded "form the `number ofpulse-components detected vby the Ysv'veepingbearn havingan amplitudelevel corresponding 1to that dened by theY vertical lposition 'ofthefbeam, Y f l The outputleads '10M-'102e of the temporary storagesealer F102 are connected to afdigital lposition andigat'e complex. 1'03comprising a plurality 5 of and-gates l--103a- 103ciasfindicated inFig. 1. `The and-gates are of 'con ventionalconstruction 'and may befjthe type ff'ullydean outputwhem and'only when, 'there'is `acoincidence Aof i videsan outputsignal-when'any one'ofits inputsis'ener- Y giz'edwith apositive signal. Y A, i A A, n

' As jis apparent nfrom j'Fig. 1, the and-'gate 'complex `103 Ina-y.preferably; comprise dive "and-gates '10M-103e "ffthe Ydetect'e'dsignals are Vainpliied in a videofamplilierVlil'l and Y the`temperary 'storage sealer '102 iasrnanifested jon 2leads' l10'2a-`-^l02'e, frespecti 1ly. *ii-The remaining "'lv'ejin'puts --'to' eachjan'd-Vga'te are l'obtained sequentially "from a :digital 'positionsealerll't'o be described. Y

As .will become apparent inthe vfurther descriptionj'o'f Athe invention,sinceian outputjcanibe obtainedffromeach and-gate Aonly `upon-`coincidence'of the 4six applied :input signals, the application ofliveV digital position 'pulses obtained "fromrthe Vdigital 'positionsealer llloftogether with a sixthjpulserom Vstorage's'caler 1102 will';provide Aan outputisignal Which l"in eie'ct Videntities thetimesequence 'position and the presence of 'an Voutput signal fromtheparticlar- -s'tage -of vthestorage sealer. As'will beexplained,thereferredfto time-'sequence positions inefytect correspond'to 'discrete successive "timeperiods with Whichfthe `ve rti`::il""s'vt'fee'p:'orfthel` display tube 1'05 andfthe horizontalswe'epof thestorageitube correspond, and'ithe digital position 'scal'er'110 thereforeunctions 'as atommutating .devicewto transferthewamplitude components detected in storage tube "in converted'podedform as itemized indications inithedisplay 'tube i105. f

Digital positronsculeriVI-.I'O

The :referred-to v.digital .position sealer 2110,.vvhichlcooperatesjwith the -temporary storage .sealer :to .determinethe sequence of energization of the gates 103, comprises a. S-Stagebinary scaler similar in circuit construction to the temporary-storagescaler detailed in Fig. 4 but includes an output such as' 110a-1,11011-0, -110e-1--110e-0 from each half of each bi-stable stage, asindicated in Fig. 1.

The digital position scaler 110 is serially energized by a timing-pulsegenerator 108 and delivers output signals through the referred-to leadsl10n-0, 110a-1, 110b-0, 110b-1, etc. to specified inputs to theand-gates 103. The designations 110:1-1, 110a-0, etc. indicate therespective l and outputs obtained from each stage of the binary counter.

As will become apparent as the description proceeds, the entire systemis precisely time controlled according to time intervals of 16,666 as.periods, each of which is initiated by a control gate generator 107 inresponse to 60 C. P. S. initiating control pulses as indicated inFig. 1. Such pulses turn on the timing pulse generator 108 whichoperates at a frequency of 300 kc. and provides 3.3 as. time-spacedtiming pulses for operating the digital position scaler 110. Since suchtiming pulses are applied serially to the Scaler 110 as described, theparallel output leads 110a-110e will be energized each 3.3 as. period insequence according to a different respective binary pattern, the effectof which is to ready in sequence each -of the and-gates 103a-103e,comprising the gate cornplex 103.

Specifically, the various stages of the sealer 110, shown in Fig. 4,will be energized according to the following pattern by the referred-toserially applied timing pulses.

and so forth.

It will be clear from the above description that the scaler 110 acts asa commutator to sequentially ready each of the and-gates 103a-103e insuccession at 3.3 as. intervals occurring within each 16,666 as. maincycle period. If at the time each of the and-gates is readied in suchmanner, a dash signal should be manifested in any one of the paralleloutput leads 102a-102e from temporary storage scaler 102, then therewill exist a coincidence of the six referred-to signals applied to suchgate and the gate will conduct. In other words, the gate complex 103 canbe said to recognize the existence of a dash representing a signal at aparticular time position corresponding to the sequence of energizaton ofa particular one of the and-gates 103a-103e- For example, a concurrenceof output signals obtained on leads 110a-1, 11019-0, 110c-0, 11M-0, and110e-0, of the sealer 110 and lead 102:1 from the temporary storagesealer 102 can be interpreted to mean that in a position designated as 1by the digital position Scaler 110, there is a binary dash signalrepresentation in the coded number then existing in the sealer 102 afterthe reading beam has scanned across the storage tube 100 in scan lineposition l. Similarly, as the Scaler 110 commutates into readiness theand-gate 103b, a concurrent signal on lead 102b indicates that inposition 2 there is a binary dash representation in the coded numberthen existing in scaler 102.

The stages of the digital position sealer 110 in this manner identifythe successive binary digital positions indicated as the ordinate inFig. 3 and dictates whether or not atbinary dash shouldbe Written insuch position on the memory tube 105. Each such digital position cle'-vsignation, as previously described, corresponds to a predeterminedamplitude component category and because the horizontal sweep of thestorage tube is also controlled by the sealer as will be described, thedetected pulse amplitude components will always be indicated in displaytube 105 in a horizontal position reserved for pulses having acorresponding amplitude category.

Any of the (dash) pulses which are obtained in such manner are appliedthrough or-gate 104 to a logical binary adding network indicated as 114in Fig. 1. The network 114 is a conventional binary adder and may be ofa type commercially produced by the Computer Control Company ofWellesley, Mass., and described on page l() of their pamphlet entitledSymbolic Logic, Binary Calculation, and 3C-PACS, by Robert W. Brooks.Briefly, such portion of the apparatus will function in accordance withthe foilowing logical rules: (1) Carry one when any two or all three ofthree signals are present and (2) write one when one or three of threesignals are present. The three referred-to signals comprise: (1) The addone signal representing the previously described output from or-gate104, (2) the carry one signal generated by the binary adding networkwhen a carry one situation exists, and (3) a read one signal, whichresults when the scanning beam in the display tube 105 has detected apreviously Written dash, and which is applied through an amplifier 119and coincidence `gate 118 to the binary adding network as indicated inFig. l.

The significance of the add one signal from or-gate 104 has already beendescribed. This is, it defines in what position of the scanning beam adash corresponding to a digit of a binary representation should beadded.

The significance of the carry-one signal is self-explanatory since itrepresents the carry resulting from adding at least two binary onestogether. The carryone signal is properly shifted by a delay element11411 in a conventional manner and applied to the adder mechanism by acarry-one pulse generator 114-.

The read-one signal is derived from the pattern previously stored in thedigital memory display tube 105 as a result of a previous analyzingcycle and detected by means of a pick-up electrode 105:1. That is,referring to Fig. 3, the existence of a dash in any digital position dueto a previously stored l generates a read-one signal when scanned, andsuch signal is applied to the adding network 114 and combined with thereferred-to add and carry signals so that the information stored indisplay tube 105 always corresponds to the current total of amplitudecomponents which have been determined.

The output from the adding network 114 is applied to a pulse lengtheneror stretcher 115, which generates a signal having a duration sufficientto write a dash pulse in the memory tube 105. The pulse lengthener 115is clock-controlled from the timing generator 108 through lead 108b soas to synchronize the time lof writing information in display tube 105with the action of the previously described portion of the mechanism.The pulse lengthener may be in the form of a univibrator of the typedescribed on page 88 of Electronics by Elmore and Sands published byMcGraw-Hill. In this manner, at a period determined by the timing pulsegenerator 108, a write-one pulse (if one exists) will be applied to theinput of memory tube 105 by conductor 115g, where it will be written asa dash in an appropriate position on the screen as indicated by thepattern of Fig. 3.

Both the horizontal deflection sweep for storage tube 100 and thevertical deflection sweep for display tube 105 are clock-pulsecontrolled in time sequence so that the incremental positions of theformer beam while tracing one of the horizontal scan lines (Fig. 2) willbe correlated with the incremental positions of the verticalseal'thecont'rol gate.-g enSr:ator 107-and thereby terminate-a tudeissnsd b'th meusuzedaasiced ly-.deflected beam. .tube .105 as `it is displacedinthe abseiss c J1 as indicated in, Eig. 3. Because of such .articulbetween the pulsefsensing v.beam :in tube 100, and e `informationwriting beam in .tube .105, the time position j n which a pulse isdetermined to exist in ,the mmQIY device .l-2 will correspond to thetime ositi n in which acorresponding pulse is Written in dis- Suchcontrol is effected by the 28-32 and-gate 116, the- Dutput `of whichcontrols the horizontal sweep for st oragetube 10,0 by mea-ns of the28-32 sweep generator 12,0, and the `vertical deflection circuit ofdisplay storage tube 10,5 .bymeans of a corresponding 1-28 sweep. gen-@rater-12,1..- .The output of. 2 8.-.32` and-'gate 116 provides arectangular wave having two transitions occurring at the b 'ng of the28th-` and 32nd digital positions as dey. Aed bythe digitalfpositionscaler 1'10 to which the nd gateis connected, I't willbev noted fromFig. l that output leads 1,-cf1-, 1,10d-1, and 110e-1 from stages 110e,110:1, and 110e of thel scaler 110 are connected to the inputofgand-gate 116, By following through the Inode of operationofthe binaryscaler 110 previously described, itA will be` apparent that all theabove output leads will be positively energized on countscorrespondingtodecimal: numbers 28, 29, 30, and 31. In this manner theand-gate 116 provides an output signal to gate generator 1,17.. at timeintervals defined by timing pulse counts of 28 and 32;. Since the timingpulses are 3.3 as. apart, the time-interval defined bythe referred-totransition pointsl ofthe square wave equals `4 3.3 or 13.2 us.Accordingly, the 28-32 sweep generator 120 which provides.the-horizontalsweep. for storage tube 100 is triggered/to conduction bythe rising portion of the square wave--andwillbe energized-for a 13 as.period, which interval thereforez defines theduration of each horizontal592m.-

Iba output of thegate generatorl 117 is also applied tbrQugh, conductor1-17-b to a 1-28 sweep generator 121 as; indicatedfinFig. l compri-singthe vertica-l sweep circulitfor displaystorage tube 105. The 1-28 sweepgenerator) 121. is initiated by. the trailing edge ofi the square wave,Iand Willibe energized for a period corresponding to' 28,- J 3.31 or 93.ns.,fan interval defining the duration-ofeachvertical sweep of thedisplay storage -disnauwe-10s,.,

I-ni ono fboth of the referred-to horizontal` and Weeps isthereforeprecisely time related to en- I OLthe-,andg-gate 116, which sequentiallyinitiates thehoriaontal-pulsefscanning sweep in tube 100 andtheqvertiscalf yveep in tube 105. In this manner it is asha all of theinformation read by the beam in scanningtube 10.,0--.wil1 ,A afterconversion in the portion of theapparatus comprising-,the elements 102,110, 103,

114 be manifestedas, energizations of the writing .be '10.5 inhorizontal- ,positions corresponding lpositionofthe scanning 4bea-m intube 100.v It--has been previously mentioned that 'the control pulsesthe action of the apparatus at 16,666yt7s. periods. ,or such-purpose achannel sealer4 1:11v is provided as shown in-V '-g. ll-between-the-output of the. digital-position sealer 110-,and the control.Igategenerator 107. The chan nel sealer;` -111 is .similarl inconstruction and operation to the circuitshown. inn-Fig. 4 but-.includesseven bi-stable vstageslto.provide a count'of-Z'1- or 12S-,whichcorresponds to 32X-128i@ 409.6` cycles from the timing pulse generator.The; output signal is-l obtained on4 the 128th count lof the 1v1-1:,s ,fed back-through: conductor- 111a 4to. cut off period of operation. Thenext input control pulse again turns on the ga-te, -generator, `causingthe vabove-'sequence to ted,y

. It W Lb tapaareat.:fromme-.above .description that the number .tpulseheiglufccmnenents l of-particulaf-,amplinning-.beaminstorage tube;100- misma-tion;-uthetempmany,Sealer term the sequence ref energizadon-of the'gates the display storage tubeis also-controlled iby tlm-ese'timing pulses through scaler 110, but the sweep gene; 11a-tor -1-2-1Vwhiclrcontrols such-sweep is initiated during-the portionofthe-,cyclefollowing completion of the =hori zontl-scanning sweep .intube. 102. Accordingly, the vertical sweep of the beam: in tube 1.05 issandwiched in Vtimewise withrespect to-the horizontal sweep intu'be 100.Such alternate scanning operations take place in sequence and arerepeated for each scaleline shown i-n Fig. 2 until a 'complete rasterhas beensQanned. The present invention contemplates a, v12S-line: rasterand. hence the timing pulse 'generator 108Y is-arranged to be drivenfor409-6- cycles of oscillation (32X 12.8) after which it is tur-ned. offby the control gate generator 1'0-7 in response to a signal fromthechannel. scaler 1*-11' as previously described. rlhe beam in the displaystorage tube 105 will also sense previously written binary informationwhich has been stored on. the screen of the tube as a result of apreceeding. scanningoperation. That is,.up.on completion of anyscanline-in Fig. 2,.-the correspond-ing channel in storage tube 105-(-.F-i-g.4 3). will be inscribed: with a number of clashes` representingthe total count in--coded binary form fof they number of amplitudecomponents detected by the scanning beam in this raster and allpreceding-such rasters.. During the. vertical sweep in. tube 105 thebeam will detect previous binary pulses by means ofthe captacitive piclc-up 1.05a, andi the .resulting information will be-applied tothereferred-to adder circuit 114 to produce a new and4 current total of thecount information to be written back into the storage tube 10S-in thesame channel. Hence upon completion of a large number ofl6,6'66p.s.cycle periods there will be displayed in the storage tube 105a pattern of stores information representing a statistical summary ofthe total number of. ampl-itude components of predetermined magnitudecomprising the pulses originally stored in the storage tube` It will beapparent that the embodiments shown are only exemplary and that variousmodifications can be made in construction andY arrangement within thescopeV of the invention asdefned in the appended claims. Y

What is claimed is:

Y l. A--pul'se-height analyzer for resolving-stored pulses-`sive;to'-tl'ref'information indicated'in said signal-storing means andto'saidcommutatingmeans forsequentiailly energizing-said: channels Atoregister respectivelyv the .current cumulative total lof'said discreteamplitude levels.-

2. The. invention of claim lincluding a sourceof timing. pulses andmeans connecting said source to saidsensing-means and said commutatingmeans respectively.

3. The. invention of claim l in which said channelenergiziugmeanscomprises. means for combining the information in.- said. signa1-storingmeans and said sensed coded information.

' A ,pulse-h'eight analyzer for resolving pu-lsesistored infaicathodevra'ystorage tube'asfcharged. store-.areas-into componentamplitude categories comprising; Va -first 'sweep' circuit for causingthe Vstorage tube beam-to; repetitively scanacross thestore--areas,asecondsweep .circuit for,V

displacinggtheubeampin equally spaced increments-,in a

rlirectiouL perpendicular tosaid direction of scan, means for.;detecting. the Yvoltage Signals 'generated-lbyhez-beam in interceptingsaid store areas, means responsive to said detecting means formemorizing the number of detected signals consequent to each scan incoded form, a second storage tube for displaying signals in like codedform as a pattern of charged areas, one deection circuit of said displaytube being connected to said second sweep circuit for causing thedisplay tube beam to be deected synchronously with the correspondingdisplacement of the beam in s-aid rst storage tube, a third sweepcircuit for deecting said' display tube beam in a directioncorresponding to said scanning movement, means on said display tube fordetecting signals generated by its beam in intercepting said patterns ofcharged areas, commutating means for sequentially interrogating saidmemorizing means, and means jointly responsive to said commutating meansand said last-mentioned detecting means for energizing the display tubebeam.

5. The invention of claim 4 including a source of timing pulsesconnected to said commutating means, and control means connecting saidcommutating means to said first land third sweep circuits for initiatingthe sweep of the respective storage tubes in time sequence.

6. The invention of claim 4 in which said memorizing means comprises ann-stage binary Scaler for registering the number of detected voltagesignals consequent to each scan as a pattern of energized stages, ands-aid commutating means comprises means for determining in time sequencethe state of energization of each stage.

7. The invention of claim 6 in which said commutating means comprises asecond n-stage binary Scaler, a plurality of coincidence gates, a sourceof timing pulses for sequentially energizing said second Scaler stagesaccording to characteristic patterns corresponding to the applied numberof timing pulses, and a matrix circuit connecting each stage of saidfirst binary sealer in consecutive order to a separate one of saidcoincidence gates respectively, and connecting one output from each ofsaid second binary scaler stages to each of said coincidence gates.

8. The invention of claim 7 in which the outputs of said coincidencegates are connected in common to said jointly responsive means.

9. The invention of claim 8, including control means responsive to saidsecond-mentioned scaling circuit for deenergizing said timing-pulsesource upon completion of a predetermined time period.

10. The invention of claim 9 in which said control means comprises amultistage binary scaler providing a control pulse upon completion of apredetermined `count of pulses applied thereto and means for applyingsaid control pulse to said timing-pulse source.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,465,355 Cook Mar. 29, 1949 2,700,151 4Flory Ian. 18, 1955 2,745,985Lewis May 15, 1956

